Quick coaching change at Cambridge Christian as Stephen Piercefield takes over baseball program

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Cambridge Christian announced Wednesday that baseball coach Sam Blackmon was resigning a little more than two months after taking over the program.

Blackmon will be unable to accept the position because “some unexpected family circumstances,” according to the school. The Lancers responded by hiring Stephen Piercefield, who was most recently on the staff at Lake Mary Prep.

Piercefield has spent time on the coaching staffs at Florida Southern, where he graduated and played on its national championship team in 2005; the University of Texas-Pan American; and Lake Mary Prep.

He has also been the coach for Sanford River Rats and the Clermont Mavericks, which are sponsored by the Florida Collegiate Summer League. He led Clermont to the Florida League Championship in 2008 and repeated with Sanford in 2011.

“It’s a great opportunity,” Piercefeld said in a news release. “I am looking forward to leading these young Christian men through the game of baseball at a place with a great academic and athletic tradition.”

In May, Cambridge announced Blackmon would replace Sam Marsonek.

Marsonek left Cambridge to work full time with SCORE International Baseball, a Tampa-based training program for local and international players. SCORE offers showcase camps, tournaments, recruiting services, training programs and Bible studies.

A former star pitcher at Jesuit and first-round draft pick by the Texas Rangers in 1996, Marsonek went 53-28 in three years as head coach at Cambridge. He won two district championships and this spring led the Lancers to their first region title in five years. Cambridge lost to eventual state champion Miami Westwood Christian in the semifinals of the Class 2A state tournament.

Blackmon came to Tampa with an impressive resume: he had most recently coached at East Texas Baptist University, an NCAA Division III school, from 2006-12. He was head coach at the University of Dallas in Irving — another Division III program — from 2001-05.

Blackmon has held a number of head coaching positions at the high school level in Texas, including St. Mark’s School (Dallas), Elkhart, Liberty Christian and Bay Area Christian. He led his teams to nine district titles in 10 years, six region appearances and three state tournament berths.